Changes of Time
by kissinginthebluedark
Summary: NaruHina oneshot. Deception. Betrayal. Death. Being Hokage during a war is not exactly an easy task. However, when all is said and done, there is still one place that promises peace for him...


I'm back with another Naruto one-shot. Apparently, I'm good at these...

**A/N #1:** Okay, so I kinda made Sasuke out to be the bad guy in this one. No, I have not given up on him, but it just seemed to fit the story really well. I am a Sasuke lover as well, so please don't hate me.Making Sasuke abit of a jerk just made this story work better.

**A/N #2:** Hinata may seem a little OOC, but I did that for a reason. She is married to Naruto now; I believe that once Hinata marries someone like Naruto, her shyness is not so much a hinderance anymore. Sure, it's still there when meeting new people and whatnot, but when she's alone with the man she loves, I just don't see her being so embarrassed and shy anymore.

I think that's it. Oh, and no, I do not own Naruto. Merr...

* * *

He was tired. He was stressed. He was going _insane._

Naruto sighed as he walked down the long, lonely hallway. He knew being Hokage was not going to be easy, but he had kind of hoped that war would not break out once he came to power. He had only been Hokage for about three months when war between the Leaf and the Sound finally broke out. Being Hokage meant that he was forced to make crucial decisions hastily, whether or not he wished to or not.

The Sound had gathered many more troops than anticipated. From where Orochimaru had gotten the troops, Naruto did not know. He only knew the ninjas of the Leaf, although willing to fight, were certainly not _ready. _

Orochimaru had planned well. Very well. _Disturbingly _well. After launching a small but devastating attack on the Sand, the Leaf had sent most of their elite ninjas to help reconstruct and fight in the village three days away. It was then that the Sound troops invaded the Leaf, knowing full well that the Leaf was weak and vulnerable.

Naruto scolded himself on a daily basis for letting the diversion with the Sand put his own village in danger. The Hokage was supposed to do everything in his power to protect the village, right? He had neglected his duties, and now the whole city was put in mortal danger.

Of course, it was not like everyone blamed him for the invasion. In fact, more than most of the ninjas were ready and willing to fight. Sakura was, of course, one of the first to volunteer. Shikamaru and Chouji were not far after her, along with Ino. He had placed the four of them, along with Rock Lee and Tenten, in a squad on the front line. He was confident in their abilities; they were few of the more experienced ninjas left in the village after the attack on the Sand.

He really should not have been so worried. He had a strong front line; plus, the rest of the Jounin were on their way back from the Sand, and they were also bringing along some of the allies from the Sand. All in all, he did not have a bad plan.

Although, it was somewhat disheartening to hear that one of his former teammates was fighting in the war as well. And, much to Naruto's horror, it was not for Konohagakure.

Naruto closed his eyes. _Sasuke…_

Yes, his own former team member was fighting in the war, but on the side of the Sound. He had only received the news earlier that day, and from Sakura, no less. The fire that was normally found in her eyes was strangely absent as she delivered the news; it seemed as though she was simply an empty shell delivering a hollow message to her commanding officer. Naruto knew that the news had killed her heart. All of her hopes for his return were gone. Sasuke had truly joined the Sound for good, it seemed.

The thought made Naruto's skin crawl with hatred.

Why did all of this have to break out now? Why war? Why Sasuke? Why did he have to break his best friend's heart? What happened to the days when they were actually friends?

Long gone were the days of his childhood. He was an adult now. And not just any adult. He was the Hokage. The Leader.

Naruto shook his head as he opened the door to his dark bedroom. The impatience of his younger years to grow up… he wished now that he had just enjoyed the time he had as a genin…

"Naruto-kun?"

He looked up at the sound of his name being called, startled. "Hinata-chan? What are you still doing up? Are you all right? You're not feeling sick again, are you?"

Naruto's beautiful wife sat up in bed and, clutching the blanket close to her chest, shook her head. "It's just… you haven't been home the past few nights. I was hoping you'd come home tonight."

He smiled tiredly. "Such are the duties of the Hokage. We're at war. I'm only home tonight because I was forced to come here and get some sleep."

Hinata frowned as Naruto realized his mistake. _Damn._ "I didn't mean it like that," he tried to recover. "If I had my way, I'd be home every night just to see you. It's just… we _are_ at war… I have to think about the village…"

Silence reigned in the room before Hinata smiled slightly. "I understand." She let go of the blanket, revealing her thin white cotton sleeveless nightgown. She patted the vacant spot in the bed to her right. "Come to bed."

Naruto nodded dumbly as he changed out of his robes and into a plain pair of pajama pants, not bothering with a shirt. He crawled into bed, his mind buzzing with too many thoughts to even attempt to go to sleep.

Hinata noticed her husband's distracted disposition and cuddled closer to him. "You know you can tell me," she whispered.

Naruto shook his head. "I don't want you to be troubled with my problems."

Hinata sighed and cupped his face with her right hand. "When I married you, we became one. We are of one soul now. Your pain is my pain; your joy, my joy; your problems are my problems." She smiled. "That's why I'm here."

Naruto sighed. "We found out some… disturbing news today."

Hinata nodded, "That's good for starters, but you really don't have to be so vague."

Naruto sighed as he sat up and pulled away from Hinata, his head in his hands. "We found out today… Sasuke is fighting for the Sound."

Hinata audibly gasped. "I'm sorry." She paused. "Does Sakura…"

"She was the one who informed me." Naruto could not hold it in any longer. This was his wife; he should not have to hide his emotions from her. In his position as Hokage, it was required. But now…he was not Hokage with her. He was her husband.

He was her husband who _desperately _needed to feel her love at this moment.

"It's not fair!" he cried out. "That bastard! Why?" He turned to Hinata, rage flaming dangerously in his eyes. "What happened to him? We were friends, or so I thought! Then he betrayed us all! He left us; he broke my best friend's heart; and now he even has the guts to fight for the other side! He's a traitor! How…" Naruto's voice broke, and he softened his speech to a whisper. "How could he… How could _I…_ How were we _ever_ friends?"

The room was deathly silent as his soft whisper still echoed in the room. Everything in the room was still as Naruto held back his tears furiously. He took in a deep breath to calm himself. As he did so, a shaking hand reached over and took his. He looked at Hinata.

As soon as he did, his heart broke. She was sitting up next to him, silent tears falling down her face. She was releasing the tears that he fought so hard to keep at bay.

It was hard to watch. The last thing she needed was to be bothered by his problems. She did not need any more stress on her; she was under enough pressure as it was.

He reached over and pulled her into his embrace, rubbing her back lovingly as the tears kept falling. After a few moments, Hinata sat back up and looked Naruto in the eye. "I'm sorry," she said.

"It's not your fau-"

She placed a finger over his lips and shushed him gently. "I'm not finished yet." He nodded and she removed her finger. A sigh escaped her own lips before she continued. "Time changes people. You know that. Sometimes it's not always for the better. Sasuke had an awful past; everyone in the village knows that. He believed his future rested on the revenge of his clan, and so, in order to gain power, he joined the ranks of someone who could give that to him." Hinata looked down, a frown disrupting her pretty features. "I can only guess that over time, Sasuke lost sight of what he went there to do."

Naruto soon had a frown to match his wife's. "Still, that does not excuse what he did," he stated bitterly.

"That's true," Hinata agreed, "but it does _explain _it." She sighed as she placed a comforting hand on her husband's shoulder. "Time changes people." A smile appeared on her face. "You of all people should know that."

He cocked a brow. "Oh really? Why me?"

Hinata rolled her eyes playfully and embraced her husband fully, hoping the change of subject would get his mind off the stressful event of the day. "I seem to remember, not too long ago, a certain blonde-hair blue-eyed ninja who only thought about ramen and loved to play pranks on any victim he could find."

For the first time that night, Naruto smiled. "Hey—I _still_ think about ramen a lot." Hinata giggled. "And what about you, Miss St-st-stutters-a-lot-and-trips-over-her-words-constantly?"

Hinata smiled and laid back on the bed, propping her head up in her left hand. "You know I don't do that anymore."

Naruto laid back as well, mirroring her position with his right hand. "You have your moments."

"_Rarely," _she snapped smartly. "I stopped that when you and I were dating."

Naruto cocked a brow and looked up as if her were thinking intently. "It… did stop then, didn't it?" he asked aloud, more to himself than to Hinata.

Hinata nodded. "I think you helped me with it."

Naruto chuckled. "How? All I did on our first date was ask you out to Ichiraku ramen."

Hinata shrugged. "It still meant a lot to me. You were my first love. My only love, for that matter."

He cocked his head to the side. "Hinata, how long ago was it?"

She furrowed her brow. "Sorry? I don't quite know what you mean…"

"How long ago was it that you started liking me?"

"Oh…" A pink blush appeared on Hinata's cheeks. "Well… a long time ago, really…"

Naruto smirked. "Well, that's good for starters, but you don't have to be so vague," he replied smartly, turning her own words from earlier against her. He scooted in closer to her. "Hinata-chan…" he coaxed.

She took in a deep breath. "I guess… I can't pinpoint the date or anything, but I know it was long before we graduated from the academy."

Naruto started at this information. It was Sakura who told him that Hinata liked him. She had even told him that Hinata had liked him for a long time. Sakura was also quick to point out that he was just too dense to read the signals. However, he had no idea that she had been so keen on him for that long.

Hinata swallowed. "You didn't know that?"

Her voice interrupted Naruto's trip down memory lane. "Um, no… I mean, I knew you liked me for a long time, but… I had no idea… for so long…"

The blush deepened on Hinata's face, though she was not sure why. They were married now, after all.

Her blush didn't go unnoticed. Naruto smirked as he reached up and gently touched her cheek. "Embarrassed, are we?"

She playfully slapped his hand away. "What about you?" she asked, desperately trying to change the subject. "What made you want to be with me? I know for a long time you vied over Sakura-chan."

Naruto shrugged nonchalantly as he lay on his back, staring at the ceiling with his hands behind his head. "I dunno… After the two-and-a-half years I spent training with Ero-Sennin, Sakura seemed to get mobbed by fanboys on a regular basis. It kinda became pointless, trying to like her. Plus, she became more like a sister to me anyway."

Hinata pouted jokingly. "So, I'm only second-best?"

Naruto looked at his wife, a mischievous smirk slowly taking residence on his face. "Are you really sure you want me to answer that?"

Hinata was soon smirking as well. "I doubt you could answer that without putting your foot in your mouth."

Naruto gaped at his wife's smart mouth. "Since when did you become so forward?"

A grin appeared on Hinata's face. "Like I said, I have _you_ to thank for that. People change as time goes on."

Naruto shrugged, the mischievous smirk still in place. "People may change, but I doubt that old habits die completely."

"You think so?"

In a flash, Naruto rolled on top of Hinata. He straddled her waist, his hands on both sides of her head next to her ears. Her eyes widened; she had not exactly been expecting _this _kind of response.

He leaned down next to her ear and whispered tantalizingly, "I _know _so."

Hinata swallowed, his breath tickling her left ear. "N-Naruto-kun…" she spluttered, her voice rising in pitch.

He smiled, hoping that he would have this effect on her. "See? Old habits _can _come back."

He placed his lips gingerly on the nape of her neck, kissing her sweetly. She moaned quietly. Slowly, his lips made their way up her neck to her mouth, to which she returned the kisses eagerly with a passion and flame all her own.

Naruto pulled away after a few moments and stared at her, a fox-like grin spreading across his face. "A little impatient, are we?"

Naruto was taken by surprise as Hinata reached up and brought her arms around his neck and pulled him down, his lips crashing into hers.

She pulled away reluctantly and whispered, "Just a little."

Naruto smiled. "Me too."

That was the last thing that was said for quite a while.

* * *

The sun rose slowly over Konohagakure, the reds and golds painting an ornate scene across the morning sky. The birds sang their morning songs happily, their melodious tunes carrying lightly though the air.

It almost made Naruto forget that there was a war going on.

He sighed. Another day had come, and surely more bad news was to follow.

He looked down at his sleeping wife, who was practically on top of him, her head resting on his chest. He absently began to rub her bare back, the motion just as comforting to him as he knew it was for her. He wanted to stay here all day; just so he could be with her. He wanted to shut out the world. Shut out the war, shut out Sasuke, shut out all of the stress…

He looked down at his wife once more. "Hinata," he called softly, running his fingers through her shoulder-length ebony hair. "Hinata-chan," he called a little louder.

She awoke slowly, her body tense as if she did not know where she was. She looked up at Naruto with confused eyes. As his face registered in her mind, she grinned sleepily. "Good morning, Naruto-kun," she replied softly.

He smiled sadly. _I wish it was a good morning…_ "I have to go now."

Hinata's smile instantly faded. "Oh… do you have to go this early?"

He nodded. "I have to. If it's any consolation, I don't _want _to go."

Hinata sighed as she sat up. Naruto instantly missed the contact. "Let me go with you," she said, not looking at him.

Naruto shot up in bed. "No way."

"You'll just be in the office, making calls and whatnot. Not to say that it's not important, but I'll hardly be in danger."

Naruto shook his head. "I can't let you do that. Even there it's too dangerous for you."

Hinata shook her head. "No, it's not."

Naruto looked into his wife's eyes, instantly seeing why she was so hesitant to let him leave.

_Fear…_

"You know why I can't let you come with me-"

"I'm only three weeks along."

Naruto was silent. "I will not let you endanger yourself or our unborn child just so you can be with me."

Silence met Naruto's words. Then, quiet sobbing. Naruto reached a hand out to comfort his wife, but instead she threw herself willingly into his arms, crying freely. "I… don't want you… to go," she stuttered through her sobs. "Please… this is… hard enough… without you…"

Naruto's embrace on his wife tightened. "Please, Hinata, I'll come back. I won't be gone long. Just during the daytime."

"But what if they need you at night as well?" she asked, her pearly lavender eyes meeting his light blues. "I… need you here…"

Naruto pressed hip lips to Hinata's forehead. "I'll come home," he said resolutely. "My second-in-command is smart and knows what I want to do with this war. I trust him. He'll take care of it." He pulled Hinata up into a sitting position and wiped her tears off her face. Smiling, he said, "During the day, I am the sixth Hokage to the village of Konoha; at night, I am only _your husband."_

As Naruto's words sank in, Hinata smiled slightly. She knew he would keep his word. "Okay."

Naruto got up and quickly dressed, the sun having fully risen now. He had to get back to his office. Since no one had gotten him out of bed during the middle of the night, he assumed that there had been no drastic changes in the circumstances than when he left last night. However, he knew that he was needed in battle, and he had to get back to protecting the village.

Hinata wrapped the white linen sheet around her body and stood to meet Naruto at the door of their bedroom. He smiled; she smiled. Then, Naruto leaned down and placed a gentle kiss on Hinata's lips, one that would not be easily forgotten once he was gone.

His gaze met hers. "That was my promise."

She nodded. "I know."

With one last hug, Naruto left Hinata standing wrapped in the sheet in the doorway of their bedroom. He smiled; coming home for one night was exactly what he needed. He felt refreshed, like he could tackle anything that came his way—even Orochimaru himself.

Time changes people. But not all changes are bad ones…

* * *

That's all! Special thanks to my beta reader, Keri. Please R&R! 


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